Playing God is actually the highest expression of human nature. The urges to improve ourselves, to master our environment, and to set our children on the best path possible have been the fundamental driving forces of all of human history. Without these urges to ‘play God’, the world as we know it wouldn’t exist today.

Agriculture is the #1 source of deforestation. By some estimates it accounts for 80% of the forests chopped down in the tropics.

The more widely you can spread this notion of achieving ROI by preserving and improving ecosystems, the better.

Often we need to use policy to level the playing field, or to be sure that a technology is managed in a responsible way.

Often an idea has impact far larger than the person who originated it.

I think the environmental movement is now so large and diverse that it's hard to talk of it as a single entity.

I was much more of a naïve techno-optimist than I am now. I still believe that technology can help us come out of this situation with a richer humanity with less impact on the planet, but now I think it has to be paired with effective policy in order to achieve that.